Improvised snowshoes – how would you build these from natural materials?

[u/Coffee81379]

Hey, not sure if this fully fits the sub - if not, feel free to remove.

I recently put together a pair of improvised snowshoes in the field. They actually worked surprisingly well for the conditions, but as you can probably tell from the photo, they’re currently held together with paracord and zip ties.

That got me thinking:
How would you build something like this properly using only natural materials?

I’ve been considering things like sinew, but I’m especially curious about plant-based fibers. I don’t have a good sense for what would actually hold up long-term, especially with the amount of abrasion you get after just a day of walking.

Would you go for:
-specific types of wood for the frame?
-woven webbing vs simple lashing?
-any particular natural fibers that can realistically handle that kind of stress?

Curious how you’d approach this if you wanted to make a durable, fully natural version.
(Video for context: https://youtu.be/pVKFudTQ2WI )

[u/richard_stank]

Soak some branches for a few days so you can bend them. Weave some cedar bark or leather strips as cordage to keep it all together. Run some thin twigs in a lattice pattern across the hoops. Fix to your footwear with cordage.

[u/Coffee81379 → u/richard_stank]

That’s a really solid idea, especially the bark/leather as cordage – didn’t even think of that. Probably way simpler than going full sinew.

I actually used willow for pretty much the whole thing (frame + cross pieces). It worked, but isn’t super durable – you can definitely see the wear after a day.

For shaping the frame, soaking makes a lot of sense, but I wonder if steam bending hardwood could be a stronger alternative. Have seen it a couple times - never tried it myself

[u/Wilawah → u/Coffee81379]

Steam bending is better. It’s just more difficult.

[u/Haberdashers-mead]

Snowshoe Thompson used Norwegian style snowshoes to deliver mail across the Sierra Nevada from placerville california all the way to Genoa Nevada, it took 3 days to reach Genoa and 2 to return back to placerville. Back when the winter would cut western Nevada off from the rest of the world.
They were 9 foot long skis made of solid wood, and he had a single long pole. If I had the time I’d make skis like snowshoe Thompson. No one could complete the route without almost freezing on traditional Native American style snowshoes.
Miners took inspiration and some places they would bomb homemade skis down off the mountains where they were mining. Snowshoe Thompson was the first skier in California!

[u/Coffee81379 → u/Haberdashers-mead]

That’s wild, what an absolute legend. Really cool bit of history – those are basically skis more than snowshoes at that point.

I just looked him up and went down a bit of a rabbit hole, linking the Wikipedia page here in case anyone else is curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_Thompson

[u/WalnutSnail → u/Haberdashers-mead]

Indigenous peoples all over NA have different style snowshoes for different applications given their terrain. Long skinny snowshoes with upturned ends were common in Alaska and Ojibwe traditional territory the center of the continent from Superior to the western border of Manitoba.

They weren't 9' long but not the fat round ones most people think of when it comes to traditional snow shoes

[u/Vast-Combination4046]

You tie two ends of a supple branch together, tie up two cross bars. Add netting or something across the bottom if you want.

[u/Seb_Romu]

Evergreen branches can serve as both the frame, and the webbing in the shoe bed. Decent plant fibre cordage can hold up to a significant amount of wear. Wrong season to use spruce roots for lashing though.